Laughing Falcon 225 



moments/ but the unfortunate bird was soon overcome. . . . They build their 

 nest of dry twigs and moss, which is placed in a very tall tree, but below the 

 higher branches; the only nest I have seen was inaccessible, therefore I am 

 unable to describe the eggs." 



The Laughing or Crying Falcon (Herpetotheres cachinnans}, as it is variously 

 called in allusion to its peculiar notes, is not only the sole tenant of its genus, 

 but is the ordy known member of the present subfamily Herpetotherina. In 

 addition to the more technical characters, set forth on page 212, which serve to 

 distinguish it from the other groups of the Falconida, it may be described as a 

 sturdily built, crested bird, about eighteen inches in length, with a moderately 

 strong bill and very strong, curiously reticulated legs and feet, on which latter 

 account it resembles quite strikingly the Serpent Eagles of the Old World. 

 The plumage is brown above the feathers with paler edgings, the crown 

 forming a cap being buffy white with narrow shaft-streaks to the feathers, 

 while the feathers around the eye, hinder cheeks, ear-coverts, and a nuchal 

 band are black, and the remaining parts, including a spot under the eye, cheeks, 

 sides of the neck, and a neck collar and all lower parts, are buffy white; the 

 wings are brown barred with blackish and have a conspicuous patch of creamy 

 buff at the bases of the inner primaries, while the tail is alternately banded with 

 dark brown and creamy buff; the bill is black and the cere and feet orange. 



The Laughing Falcon is very widely and generally distributed from Bolivia 

 and Paraguay northward throughout the whole country to southern Mexico, 

 though not usually ascending very high in the mountains. It is an arboreal species 

 and feeds upon reptiles, rodents, occasional birds, and grasshoppers. Its most 

 marked peculiarity, which serves to call frequent attention to it, is its strange cry, 

 which Leyland states maybe heard for miles. Mr. Leon J.Cole, who has recently 

 written of it as observed in Yucatan, says : "The usual note is a rather drawn-out 

 cry, much like the human voice in distress; it sounds like 'Oh !' at a rather high 

 pitch, and with a slight falling inflection at the end. This is repeated at short 

 intervals. Occasionally it gives a series of these cries, increasing in pitch and 

 volume somewhat, and becoming slower as it proceeds." Mr. Frank M. Chap- 

 man, whose observations were also made in Yucatan, adds: "The notes of this 

 Hawk are more human and weird in character than those of any bird I have ever 

 heard, . . . resembling a call of a man in great pain, and ending in an agonized 

 wail. It was grewsome beyond description."' The cries are given in the morn- 

 ing and again at dusk, and according to Dr. Richmond, who saw them on the 

 Escondido River, Honduras, there is a curious guttural laugh which usually 

 precedes the long call and which can be heard for only a short distance. From 

 the fact that the bird calls most frequently about dusk, it is known as the "Rain- 

 crow" by the Americans on the Escondido. Mr. E. A. Goldman, who has seen 

 it in life throughout much of Central America, states that it is one of the most 

 difficult and exasperating birds to procure, and after a patient stalk and the 

 discharge of both barrels at it, it frequently is able to fly away with a wild laugh 

 as though mocking the ill success of the shot ! The nest and eggs of the Laughing 

 Falcon appear to be undescribed. 

 Q 



